Laravel Boost

• Introduction
• Installation
  • Keeping Boost Resources Updated
  • Set Up Your Agents
• MCP Server
  • Available MCP Tools
  • Manually Registering the MCP Server
• AI Guidelines
  • Available AI Guidelines
  • Adding Custom AI Guidelines
  • Overriding Boost AI Guidelines
  • Third-Party Package AI Guidelines
• Agent Skills
  • Available Skills
  • Custom Skills
  • Overriding Skills
  • Third-Party Package Skills
• Guidelines vs. Skills
• Documentation API
• Extending Boost
  • Adding Support for Other IDEs / AI Agents

Introduction

Laravel Boost accelerates AI-assisted development by providing the essential guidelines and agent skills that help AI agents write high-quality Laravel applications that adhere to Laravel best practices.

Boost also provides a powerful Laravel ecosystem documentation API that combines a built-in MCP tool with an extensive knowledge base containing over 17,000 pieces of Laravel-specific information, all enhanced by semantic search capabilities using embeddings for precise, context-aware results. Boost instructs AI agents like Claude Code and Cursor to use this API to learn about the latest Laravel features and best practices.

Installation

Laravel Boost can be installed via Composer:

composer require laravel/boost --dev

Next, install the MCP server and coding guidelines:

php artisan boost:install

The boost:install command will generate the relevant agent guideline and skill files for the coding agents you selected during the installation process.

Once Laravel Boost has been installed, you're ready to start coding with Cursor, Claude Code, or your AI agent of choice.

NOTE

Feel free to add the generated MCP configuration file (.mcp.json), guideline files (CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md, junie/, etc.), and the boost.json configuration file to your application's .gitignore, as these files are automatically regenerated when running boost:install and boost:update.

Set Up Your Agents

Cursor

1. Open the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P or Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Press enter on "/open MCP Settings"
3. Turn the toggle on for laravel-boost

Claude Code

Claude Code support is typically enabled automatically. If you find it isn't, open a shell in the project's directory and run the following command:

claude mcp add -s local -t stdio laravel-boost php artisan boost:mcp

Codex

Codex support is typically enabled automatically. If you find it isn't, open a shell in the project's directory and run the following command:

codex mcp add laravel-boost -- php "artisan" "boost:mcp"

Gemini CLI

Gemini CLI support is typically enabled automatically. If you find it isn't, open a shell in the project's directory and run the following command:

gemini mcp add -s project -t stdio laravel-boost php artisan boost:mcp

GitHub Copilot (VS Code)

1. Open the command palette (Cmd+Shift+P or Ctrl+Shift+P)
2. Press enter on "MCP: List Servers"
3. Arrow to laravel-boost and press enter
4. Choose "Start server"

Junie

1. Press shift twice to open the command palette
2. Search "MCP Settings" and press enter
3. Check the box next to laravel-boost
4. Click "Apply" at the bottom right

Keeping Boost Resources Updated

You may want to periodically update your local Boost resources (AI guidelines and skills) to ensure they reflect the latest versions of the Laravel ecosystem packages you have installed. To do so, you can use the boost:update Artisan command.

php artisan boost:update

You may also automate this process by adding it to your Composer "post-update-cmd" scripts:

{
  "scripts": {
    "post-update-cmd": [
      "@php artisan boost:update --ansi"
    ]
  }
}

MCP Server

Laravel Boost provides an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that exposes tools for AI agents to interact with your Laravel application. These tools give agents the ability to inspect your application's structure, query the database, execute code, and more.

Available MCP Tools

Name	Notes
Application Info	Read PHP & Laravel versions, database engine, list of ecosystem packages with versions, and Eloquent models
Browser Logs	Read logs and errors from the browser
Database Connections	Inspect available database connections, including the default connection
Database Query	Execute a query against the database
Database Schema	Read the database schema
Get Absolute URL	Convert relative path URIs to absolute so agents generate valid URLs
Get Config	Get a value from the configuration files using "dot" notation
Last Error	Read the last error from the application's log files
List Artisan Commands	Inspect the available Artisan commands
List Available Config Keys	Inspect the available configuration keys
List Available Env Vars	Inspect the available environment variable keys
List Routes	Inspect the application's routes
Read Log Entries	Read the last N log entries
Search Docs	Query the Laravel hosted documentation API service to retrieve documentation based on installed packages
Tinker	Execute arbitrary code within the context of the application

Manually Registering the MCP Server

Sometimes you may need to manually register the Laravel Boost MCP server with your editor of choice. You should register the MCP server using the following details:

Command	php
Args	artisan boost:mcp

JSON example:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "laravel-boost": {
            "command": "php",
            "args": ["artisan", "boost:mcp"]
        }
    }
}

AI Guidelines

AI guidelines are composable instruction files that are loaded upfront to provide AI agents with essential context about Laravel ecosystem packages. These guidelines contain core conventions, best practices, and framework-specific patterns that help agents generate consistent, high-quality code.

Available AI Guidelines

Laravel Boost includes AI guidelines for the following packages and frameworks. The core guidelines provide generic, generalized advice to the AI for the given package that is applicable across all versions.

Package	Versions Supported
Core & Boost	core
Laravel Framework	core, 10.x, 11.x, 12.x
Livewire	core, 2.x, 3.x, 4.x
Flux UI	core, free, pro
Folio	core
Herd	core
Inertia Laravel	core, 1.x, 2.x
Inertia React	core, 1.x, 2.x
Inertia Vue	core, 1.x, 2.x
Inertia Svelte	core, 1.x, 2.x
MCP	core
Pennant	core
Pest	core, 3.x, 4.x
PHPUnit	core
Pint	core
Sail	core
Tailwind CSS	core, 3.x, 4.x
Livewire Volt	core
Wayfinder	core
Enforce Tests	conditional

NOTE

To keep your AI guidelines up-to-date, see the Keeping Boost Resources Updated section.

Adding Custom AI Guidelines

To augment Laravel Boost with your own custom AI guidelines, add .blade.php or .md files to your application's .ai/guidelines/* directory. These files will automatically be included with Laravel Boost's guidelines when you run boost:install.

Overriding Boost AI Guidelines

You can override Boost's built-in AI guidelines by creating your own custom guidelines with matching file paths. When you create a custom guideline that matches an existing Boost guideline path, Boost will use your custom version instead of the built-in one.

For example, to override Boost's "Inertia React v2 Form Guidance" guidelines, create a file at .ai/guidelines/inertia-react/2/forms.blade.php. When you run boost:install, Boost will include your custom guideline instead of the default one.

Third-Party Package AI Guidelines

If you maintain a third-party package and would like Boost to include AI guidelines for it, you can do so by adding a resources/boost/guidelines/core.blade.php file to your package. When users of your package run php artisan boost:install, Boost will automatically load your guidelines.

AI guidelines should provide a short overview of what your package does, outline any required file structure or conventions, and explain how to create or use its main features (with example commands or code snippets). Keep them concise, actionable, and focused on best practices so AI can generate correct code for your users. Here is an example:

## Package Name

This package provides [brief description of functionality].

### Features

- Feature 1: [clear & short description].
- Feature 2: [clear & short description]. Example usage:

@verbatim
<code-snippet name="How to use Feature 2" lang="php">
$result = PackageName::featureTwo($param1, $param2);
</code-snippet>
@endverbatim

Agent Skills

Agent Skills are lightweight, targeted knowledge modules that agents can activate on-demand when working on specific domains. Unlike guidelines, which are loaded upfront, skills allow detailed patterns and best practices to be loaded only when relevant, reducing context bloat and improving the relevance of AI-generated code.

When you run boost:install and select skills as a feature, skills are automatically installed based on the packages detected in your composer.json. For example, if your project includes livewire/livewire, the livewire-development skill will be installed automatically.

Available Skills

Skill	Package
fluxui-development	Flux UI
folio-routing	Folio
inertia-react-development	Inertia React
inertia-svelte-development	Inertia Svelte
inertia-vue-development	Inertia Vue
livewire-development	Livewire
mcp-development	MCP
pennant-development	Pennant
pest-testing	Pest
tailwindcss-development	Tailwind CSS
volt-development	Volt
wayfinder-development	Wayfinder

NOTE

To keep your skills up-to-date, see the Keeping Boost Resources Updated section.

Custom Skills

To create your own custom skills, add a SKILL.md file to your application's .ai/skills/{skill-name}/ directory. When you run boost:update, your custom skills will be installed alongside Boost's built-in skills.

For example, to create a custom skill for your application's domain logic:

.ai/skills/creating-invoices/SKILL.md

Overriding Skills

You can override Boost's built-in skills by creating your own custom skills with matching names. When you create a custom skill that matches an existing Boost skill name, Boost will use your custom version instead of the built-in one.

For example, to override Boost's livewire-development skill, create a file at .ai/skills/livewire-development/SKILL.md. When you run boost:update, Boost will include your custom skill instead of the default one.

Third-Party Package Skills

If you maintain a third-party package and would like Boost to include skills for it, you can do so by adding a resources/boost/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md file to your package. When users of your package run php artisan boost:install, Boost will automatically install your skills based on user preference.

Boost Skills support the Agent Skills format and should be structured as a folder containing a SKILL.md file with YAML frontmatter and Markdown instructions. The SKILL.md file must include required frontmatter (name and description) and can optionally include scripts, templates, and reference materials.

Skills should outline any required file structure or conventions, and explain how to create or use its main features (with example commands or code snippets). Keep them concise, actionable, and focused on best practices so AI can generate correct code for your users:

---
name: package-name-development
description: Build and work with PackageName features, including components and workflows.
---

# Package Name Development

## When to use this skill
Use this skill when working with PackageName features...

## Features

- Feature 1: [clear & short description].
- Feature 2: [clear & short description]. Example usage:

$result = PackageName::featureTwo($param1, $param2);

Guidelines vs. Skills

Laravel Boost provides two distinct ways to give AI agents context about your application: guidelines and skills.

Guidelines are loaded upfront when the AI agent starts, providing essential context about Laravel conventions and best practices that apply broadly across your codebase.

Skills are activated on-demand when working on specific tasks, containing detailed patterns for particular domains (like Livewire components or Pest tests). Loading skills only when relevant reduces context bloat and improves code quality.

Aspect	Guidelines	Skills
Loaded	Upfront, always present	On-demand, when relevant
Scope	Broad, foundational	Focused, task-specific
Purpose	Core conventions & best practices	Detailed implementation patterns

Documentation API

Laravel Boost includes a Documentation API that provides AI agents with access to an extensive knowledge base containing over 17,000 pieces of Laravel-specific information. The API uses semantic search with embeddings to deliver precise, context-aware results.

The Search Docs MCP tool allows agents to query the Laravel hosted documentation API service to retrieve documentation based on your installed packages. Boost's AI guidelines and skills will automatically instruct your coding agent to use this API.

Package	Versions Supported
Laravel Framework	10.x, 11.x, 12.x
Filament	2.x, 3.x, 4.x, 5.x
Flux UI	2.x Free, 2.x Pro
Inertia	1.x, 2.x
Livewire	1.x, 2.x, 3.x, 4.x
Nova	4.x, 5.x
Pest	3.x, 4.x
Tailwind CSS	3.x, 4.x

Extending Boost

Boost works with many popular IDEs and AI agents out of the box. If your coding tool isn't supported yet, you can create your own agent and integrate it with Boost.

Adding Support for Other IDEs / AI Agents

To add support for a new IDE or AI agent, create a class that extends Laravel\Boost\Install\Agents\Agent and implement one or more of the following contracts depending on what you need:

• Laravel\Boost\Contracts\SupportsGuidelines - Adds support for AI guidelines.
• Laravel\Boost\Contracts\SupportsMcp - Adds support for MCP.
• Laravel\Boost\Contracts\SupportsSkills - Adds support for Agent Skills.

Writing the Agent

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App;

use Laravel\Boost\Contracts\SupportsGuidelines;
use Laravel\Boost\Contracts\SupportsMcp;
use Laravel\Boost\Contracts\SupportsSkills;
use Laravel\Boost\Install\Agents\Agent;

class CustomAgent extends Agent implements SupportsGuidelines, SupportsMcp, SupportsSkills
{
    // Your implementation...
}

For an example implementation, see ClaudeCode.php.

Registering the Agent

Register your custom agent in the boot method of your application's App\Providers\AppServiceProvider:

use Laravel\Boost\Boost;

public function boot(): void
{
    Boost::registerAgent('customagent', CustomAgent::class);
}

Once registered, your agent will be available for selection when running php artisan boost:install.